"Who starts a tour at Madison Square Garden?"

So the concert originally billed as "the release party of Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King" didn't go off as planned. However, the band did release the new single Funny the Way it is that day, and officially set the track listings and album artwork (which is sick, but more on that in the upcoming weeks). However, no one going to the show was disappointed in the effort the band put out and the set they played.

For the show, we sat in section 95 (great seats courtesy of Jordan), but really, there is no bad seat in the house at MSG. The Roots opened and played a fun show, not really ever stopping for a break, but instead, filling the space with little interludes of famous songs, such as Iron Man and Lollipop. Then the interlude music filled the arena and we all mingled around until 8:45, when shadows emerged from behind this giant curtain on the stage. The music stopped, the lights went out, and the guitar part started.

The band launched into the always pleasing Don't Drink the Water. After the 2007 hit Cornbread, which didn't make the final cut on the new album, the band debuted that new single, Funny the Way it is, with Timmy ripping a sweet electric guitar solo near the end. After a hiatus since 2006, Raven made its way off the backburner and on to the setlist, followed by You Might Die Trying. The band then debuted another song off their upcoming record, Spaceman, which is a slower song in comparison to Funny. Dancing Nancies and Pig followed suit, which was nice to see Pig on the set, which was originally suppose to be Granny (always good though).

About midway through the night and countless "who starts a tour as MSG?" quotes, Dave introduced a friend of his who "just happened" to be in town for the show. That's when Gregg Allman jumped up on staged and swapped verses of the Allman Brother Band song, Melissa. Also making its return was Recently, yet no longer truncated, but instead with its original full ending. So Damn Lucky and #27 paved the way for yet another new song, Why I Am, which is an upbeat song of "singing and dancing witht he Gro Grux King", a tribute to Leroi Moore, the band's fallen saxaphone player. Then the snare drum hits came, leading into an epic Ants Marching with Boyd tearing a new asshole on his solo. Then new saxaphonist Jeff Coffin, of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, made his presence known, stealing the spotlight on a magnaimous #41, which included an interlude of the Flecktones Sojourn of Arjuna. Two Step closed out the set with Carter and Timmy tearing solos on the song. The encore was Sister followed by Tripping Billies, which is no complant in my book, though i was hoping for a Halloween->Watchtower->Best of What's Around (or any of those three).

Overall it was a solid set from a solid band. Looking foward to the next time I see them.

Day and Age - The Killers

After starting strong with their first two records, Hot Fuss and Sam's Town, I really didn't expect there new CD, Day & Age, to be at the same caliber as those two. But I was mistaken! Not only did Day & Age exceed my expectations but also became my favorite Killer's album to date.
The Cd starts off with Losing Touch, which gets the listener going straight into the first single, Human. My personal favorite, Spaceman, talks of alien abductions and "zipping white lights which disregard/bombs and satellites". Joy Ride, which reminds me of a Rolling Stones jazz-esque song, contains a kick ass sax lick, which just gives it points in my book. Then Brandon Flowers and the guys slow things up with A Dustland Fairytale, This is Your Life, and I Can't Stay. They pick back up with Neon Tiger, a sweet song of a tiger running from poachers. They round the album out with The World We Live In and Goodnight, Travel Well, the latter reminding me of how they ended Sam's Town with Outro ( a goodbye and good listening piece). Almost every song is strong on this album and well worth the wait and b-side CD (Sawdust).

On a side note, the album artwork is my favorite of all time. If you haven't seen it, i'll post a picture of it below. It would definitely make a sweet wall art.

edit: (its above cause my blogger won't let it go below)

The One I So Adore

Leroi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band passed away today in Los Angeles, from complications stemming from an early summer ATV accident that left him in the hospital and off the Summer 2008 tour. Leroi often one over the fans with his melodic solos on a variety of saxophones, as well as the occasional clarinet and flute. He will be missed by all who have ever heard or seen him.

RIP Leroi Moore 1961-2008

Viva La Vida (song) - Coldplay

If you couldn't tell by now, I am really looking forward to this new Coldplay album, which drops June 17th. So the official first single is Viva La Vida, bot Violet Hills, which was just the free single (thank god!). Unlike Violet Hills, Viva La Vida is what I expected and more from Coldplay on this new cd.
The song has has constant violin-like background for the whole song, which is catchy. At first, it almost sounds like an 80's-ish song. The backing "Oh's" leading into the refrain at the end add a nice touch. It almost reminds me of another Coldplay song but its not coming to mind right now.

Any who, definitely give this jaun a listening too. Well worth the 99 cents or freeness, if you know your way around!

Concert Review: Billy Joel 03/30/2006

Who doesn't like the Piano Man? This was the question I was wondering when I was trying to get rid of some seats for the Last Play at Shea, but anyways, that's a different story...

This Billy Joel tour incorporated a 12 night stand at the Garden in NYC, along with half a dozen Philly dates and a few other shows scattered mainly around the East Coast. This particular night, was the final of 6 nights in Philly, and what better way to commemorate this night then hang a banner for the man. About two or three songs into the show, hometown radio DJ, Pierre Robert of 93.3 WMMR, presented the Piano Man with a banner for 48 (I believe) sell-out shows in the city of Brotherly Love. The setlist was as follows:

Prelude/Angry Young Man
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
The Ballad of Billy The Kid
Honesty
Zanzibar
Allentown
An Innocent Man
Don't Ask Me Why
Pressure
Goodnight Saigon
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Captain Jack
She's Always A Woman
Keeping The Faith
The River of Dreams
A Matter of Trust
Highway To Hell
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right

Only The Good Die Young
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Piano Man

Highlights from the show included the local fan favorite Allentown, along with a touching version of Goodnight Saigon, in which Joel was joined on stage by the United States Military Personnel in attendance. Later on in the show, Billy brought out his guitar handler for most of his touring days, named Sledgehammer, who wowed the crowd with a killer rendition of AC/DC's Highway to Hell. After Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Joel teased the crowd, who knew that there was only one song left. After boos and cheers and many people yelling "Charge" like we were at a ball game, the Piano Man gave the crowd the song he will be most remembered for. Personal highlights for me included Captian Jack, The Entertainer, We Didn't Start the Fire, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, and of course, Piano Man.

Violet Hill - Coldplay

Finally there is new music from Coldplay. In one day, we not only got a FREE download of the new single, Violet Hill, but also learned of free concerts at Madison Square Garden, NYC and Brixton, UK. In previous weeks we learned of the title of the new album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, along with the tracklist for the album.

The song begins with Chris Martin and the piano, but the middle is a new sound of Coldplay, one promised for us in the new album. The electric, overdriven guitar joins in around a minute in, adding part of that new sound. The almost choir-like chorus of If you love me/ let me know is also new in the sound, along with an electric guitar solo that is unlike the old Coldplay. The track, to me, is a 3.5/5 mainly for the fact that it is uneventful. Unlike Clocks and Speed of Sound, the two first singles off A Rush of Blood to the Head and X&Y, respectively, the song is more mellow and not as moving. Hopefully this is not a good representation of what to look forward to on upcoming June 17th release date album, mainly because the three year wait would not have been worth it.

On The Run

Ok i couldn't help but post this hilarious story. After wrapping up his Sunday night encore spot at the 2008 Coachella Festival, Roger Waters, who played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, reported that his stage prop pig was missing.
For those of you unaware, this Pig has been touring with Roger Waters since the Pink Floyd days. During each show, Waters' crew flys the Pig over the crowd.
What I thought to be most funny is that this Pig has a $10,000 reward, in addition to 4 Coachella Festival tickets each year, for life. But its not as though this is some little Pig. It stands 2 stories tall and is said to be bigger than a school bus. How does something that big and valuable go missing like that?
So when my dad called me today, he said he was out in the valley and I gave him the heads up to look for any suspicious pig like item.

Oh and on a side note, the Pig got inked up before the gig with a new Obama tattoo, if you will. Maybe a Hilary supporter got mad and kidnapped the thing. Who knows any more in this crazy society we live in.

Here's a link to one article: http://pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=10049

Before These Crowded Streets (10th Anniversary)- Dave Matthews Band

It's been 10 years today since the Dave Matthews Band has put out an album of as high of quality as the Big three (UTTAD, Crash, and BTCS). Every single song on the CD is deeply meaningful and just all around good jams. Even though there are some versions of songs that I'm not a big fan of the studio version (cough Halloween cough), they manage to put forth great live versions. With the exception of Panta Nagala Pampa, an intro of sorts to Rapunzel, each song is atleast 5 minutes in length, which might be long for most bands, but DMB fills the time with awesome solos. There's never really a lull.

So in honor of 10 great years of Before These Crowded Streets, I asked around the some ants (antsmarching.org members) what they thought their favorite live version of each song is. Below is a mix of my personal list and theirs. The difference is that mine will have a little blurb about why posted with it.

Panta Nagala Pampa->Rapunzel Live in Chicago disc

The Last Stop Central Park Bonus disc

Don't Drink the Water 08-07-07 Tweeter Center -> My first DMB show (with great seats thanks to my buddy Jordan! and they brought out Xavier Rudd on stage to play the digereedo and he wailed on that thing for a good three minutes.

Stay (Wasting Time) They all pretty much sound the same, so I'll go once again with 08-07-07 Tweeter Center, being that it was my first show and it was meaningful, i guess.

Halloween The Gorge or MSG 05

The Stone Live Trax Volume 8 at Alpine Valley

Dreaming Tree Although I always enjoy the full band version, the Farm Aid 07 Dave+Tim Version just sounds so neat to me personally

Pig I love the Fenway opener of this but the ants consensus seemed to be the Giants Stadium with Big Voice Jack and Bela Fleck

Spoon Everyone pretty much went with the Central Park Bonus disc version. Never heard it live before so i'll go with that

I had an awesome time spinning this album on the 10th anniversary with all the ants that joined in.

Concert Review: Rolling Stones 10/10/2005

I know this was awhile ago, but I'm finally getting around to reviewing it.

My first concert ever was this show. My dad went down around 2 pm to the Wachovia Center to scalp tickets. He ended up getting five. So me, my buddy Erick, his mom, my mom and my dad went down for the show. The seats weren't together, but we ended up sitting together. However our seats were limited view of the stage. The limited view really didn't have that big of an effect though, because of the set-up the Stones had. It was a little tough though to see the opener, John Mayer Trio. They were alright, but not as good as solo John Mayer, imo. When the Stones took the stage, everyone came in and just rocked out. Highlights included, for me, the Get Up, Stand Up Bob Marley cover (with Mick and Marley Brothers pics in the background), Sympathy for the Devil, Jumpin Jack Flash, and the timeless classic Satisfaction. The setlist went as followed:

1. Start Me Up/ Mick and the band came running onto the stage, going almost as crazy as the fans
2. You Got Me Rocking
3. She’s So Cold
4. Tumbling Dice
5. Oh No, Not You Again
6. Angie
7. Rain Fall Down
8. Rock Off
9. Get Up, Stand Up/ tribute to Bob Marley
10. The Worst
11. Infamy
12. Miss You/ stage moved to the opposite side of the floor
13. Rough Justice
14. Get Off My Cloud
15. Honkey Tonk Woman
16. Out of Control
17. Sympathy of the Devil/ staged moved back
18. Brown Sugar
19. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
20. Can’t Always Get What You Want
21. Satisfaction / Went for about 10 minutes, great way to end an amazing show, everyone in the crowd was in on this one

There were some characters around us too, which made my first concert even more enjoyable. The guy next to us had at least 6 beer cups stacked under his current beer (and was visable out of it). for most of the night he thought he was Mick Jagger, so he was attempting to sing and dance lke him, so that was funny. We had a lady who was pist at someone and she randomly got up and started flippin off someone, and almost fell over the edge cause she was wasted. Then she got arrested, which was funnier. There was also a drunk shemale who thought she was Mick Jagger too and attempted to dance like him for about 5 minutes until she fell over and was taken away. Overall, it was a kick-ass night.

Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows

Finally I have the review up! and although its over a month overdue, whatever. So here it goes:

Although it was 6 years since the Counting Crows last CD, it was well worth the wait. Saturday Nights and Sundays Mornings is an all-around quality CD. The one-disc CD is split into two parts; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, as the title suggests. The first half is a rocking upbeat fun night kind of mix, whereas the latter half is comprised of acoustic guitars with some harmonica (my favorite!). It's almost as though it is the story of a weekend of Saturday Nights full of partying, with a Sunday Morning of wondering who's in you bed.

Saturday Night starts of with the electric guitar packed 1492 and Hanging Tree. As the 1st single, 1492 offers a steady beat with a rocking intro, a definite reminder of the 90's Crows that were so popular. Hanging Tree doesn't disappoint either, with a nice guitar solo. Los Angeles slows things down a bit and give funky-haired lead singer Adam Duritz a Jagger-Tyler voice. Sundays has a Stones-esque intro and a slammin chorus, but the verses lack, however, the band pulls it back together for Insignificant, quite possibly my favorite track off the album. Not only was the chorus tight, but also was the verse. It reminds me of a Mr. Jones type song, and it definitely has the chance of being a HUGE song for the band. Saturday Night wraps up with the song Cowboys, another personal favorite. It also goes back to the 90's Crows style and really puts the spotlight on Duritz. My favorite part would have how Duritz breaks out into talking in the middle of the song, much like he did back on Mr. Jones. Cowboys offers a nice segue into Sunday Morning.

The Acoustic-ridden Sunday Morning offers a polar opposite to the 1st half of the album. Washington Square leads things off with a nice trifecta of acoustic guitar, harmonica, and keyboard. On Almost Every Sunday Morning and When I Dream of Michaelangelo are more some of the songs that Crow's fans have been waiting years for. Anyone But You is another 90's Crows song, which incorporates the drums back in with the acoustic guitar. The dual between the keyboards and the guitar in You Can't Count On Me offers up a nice, calm driving song for the spring/summer. The worst song on the album, in my opinion and most likely yours too, is the love song ballad Le Ballet Dor. Nothing about the song sticks out to me as musically wowing. I even gave it a few more spins to make sure there wasn't something I was missing. Right up there with Le Ballet Dor is On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago. The only reason it beats out the prior is because I like the keyboard riff. Despite this minor meltdown, the Crows manage to pull it all back together for the closer Come Around, which offers a nice banjo and acoustic guitar jam, into an electric guitar song. The song, like an upbeat Holiday in Spain goes into a nice 1/2 time jam and then back into the beginning tempo. It really sums up the album well.
Must Hear: Hanging Tree, Insignificant, Cowboys, On Almost Any Sunday Morning, and You Can't Count on Me

For Crow's Fans: When I Dream of Michelangelo, Anyone But You, and Come Around

Skip: Le Ballet Dor and One Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago

Track List
1. 1492
2. Hanging Tree
3. Los Angeles
4. Sundays
5. Insignificant
6. Cowboys
~~~Split~~~
7. Washington Square
8. On Almost Any Sunday Morning
9. When I Dream Of Michaelangelo
10. Anyone But You
11. You Can't Count On Me
12. Le Ballet Dor
13. On a Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago
14. Come Around